Post your Questions & Topics for Tomorrow’s AFTVnewscast

I’ll be live streaming another episode of the AFTVnewscast tomorrow at 1:30pm PT, as I do every Friday. Post your questions or topics in the comments below for me to answer and discuss during the episode. Anything goes for questions, whether it’s about the old or new Fire TV, AFTVnews, or tech in general. Even if you can’t watch live, ask your question now and catch the episode on YouTube later.

61 comments

Hi
I have noticed that in aftv2 in kodi under System-> System info – > Hardware the total memory is around 1500 mb, and the free memory is around 400 mb, in aftv gen1 at the same section the total memory is around 1940 and the free memory is around 1000 mb, so whats up with that? Ita seems that the gen1 has 500mb of RAM more…

I second this! I would love to understand what is taking up the memory. Is it just Android 5.1 or could it be additional resources required by the new GPU? Also, does it really matter? Could Android 5.1 be better about managing memory and we are just needlessly worrying about it?

i don’t think its because the android 5.1, because i have another device with 2gb of RAM and Android 5.1 (Tronsmart Orion R68) and it has total memory of 2000 MB or so, and free memory of 1300 MB more or less, so it must be some other reason…

New owner of a 2nd Gen Fire TV. Interested in emulator use with the AFTV. I currently use NES.emu and Snex9x EX+. Both work great with the Fire TV Game controller (2nd gen) after mapping the keys correctly. My question is, has anyone been able to successfully play a 2 play game (Battletoads, for ex.) with a non-AFTV game controller and a AFTV game controller? I know the emulators are capable, and I’ve attempted to do this a PS4 controller, but in my experience the PS4 controller seemed to lag too much compared to the AFTV controller. I just preordered a second AFTV Game Controller (2nd Gen) in hopes that I can use both AFTV game controllers without issue or jumping through hoops to get them to work right. I will try the PS4 remote again, and I also have a PS3 remote, but I’ve yet to go through the steps to try use it.

PS – If you preorder the 2nd gen game controller, it comes with the Ducktales Remastered game. However, if you also preordered the AFTV gaming bundle, it also came with that game. I chatted with Amazon and was able to get the cost of the game refunded ($9.99), so that somewhat helped with the cost of the AFTV game controller ($49.99).

Yes, I had preordered (and already received) the AFTV gaming bundle and the ducktales game. Sorry, didn’t make that clear I guess.

The $9.99 was refunded from a random previous amazon order I had, not the game controller order. She wasn’t able to modify that price because I haven’t been charged yet for it (controller is released next week).

Hey great site! I love the 2nd gen aftv on paper. But my app performance has suffered, my kodi experience has suffered and this purchase hasn’t justified its price tag. I still have my 1st gen aftv, so do you think I should return the newer model and just use the older one? Or do you think these problems stem from a buggy os that will be fixed in updates? Appreciate any advice.

Patiently waiting for an OS update for the Fire Stick/FTV1. Have you heard anything? Also, are apps automatically updated under FireOS and is there no way to see changelogs of the apps that have been updated?

Do the USB Flash Drive and the MicoSD Card serve essentially the same purpose on the Second Generation Fire Box? Is it important to have both? If I can only afford one or the other at this time, which would you recommend?

same here man, i to received a DOA 2ng gen remote. whatsup with amazon did they really rush this box to the public?? i mean the 1st gen was perfect as it is, as i have about 10 fire tv ive programmed 2 for me. 1 for my parents, 1 for brother, and for friends and never had any problem with remote…
this though did pair at all.. just used my old 1st gen remote to complete setup…

Do you think it will ever be possible to get AndroidTV (as an .apk) running on the FireTV now that the 2nd gen box is running Android Lollipop? I thought rbox was looking into doing something along these lines when AndroidTV was first announced.

I have used fireinstaller to sideload kodi. Worked for 1st gen box and worked for a recently bought fire stick. I got 2 sticks same day loaded one,waited a couple of days and tried the other but not working. Version 54.1.2.3 could this be the problem? I have a user number. If needed

HI there,
i have the 2nd gen Fire TV , and i have noticed that Torrents on KODI does not work on the 2nd gen device… i also have the first gen device and the torrents works good on it… so it is because the android 5.1 or something else?

An HDMI cable is ran from a device to a tv then the optical cable goes from the tv to the receiver. What most people don’t know is that the vast majority of TVs down sample this to stereo. I don’t mean $200 Goldstar from Wal Mart most TVs from low to high end from all manufactures don’t out put DD or DTS that’s why optical is a must for anyone with surround sound.

I have a 2014 Samsung 4K TV connected via HDMI to the AFTV2. I run TOSLINK from the TV to the receiver. Even after the firmware update, the TV only sends stereo to the receiver.

However, when I replace the AFTV2 with the Roku3 and set it to send DD (instead of DD+), the TV sends DD 5.1 via TOSLINK to the receiver.

So what does that tell us – it says that if Amazon were to offer DD as an option (instead of DD+) … a significant number of us (including those who go via their older HDMI receivers) would be able to get DD 5.1

I installed the firestarter 3.1 on firetv 2. The firetv2 is connected to the receiver via hdmi cable. Everytime I turn off the receiver, the firetv 2 auto trigger to turn on the receiver again. The only current solution is putting firetv 2 into sleep mode before turning off the receiver. Is firestarter the problem? If yes, is there any way to modify the setting of firestarter to solve this problem? If not, please help.
Thank you,

Hi,
I would like your opinion of the sudden decision by Amazon with no previous warning to stop honouring the year of Prime included with the Amazon Fire phones. Coming up with excuses, not valid from 3rd party sellers when they have included the year of Prime previously for thousands of Fire phones from the very same 3rd party sellers previously.
I have been shopping on Amazon for more than 10 years. Prime member for last 5. Owner of two Amazon fire TV devices…
And there are thousands affected by this. Not a way to treat your customers.
An entry in this blog would be welcomed as those 3rd party seller sales had entries on this blog (that is why I jumped to buy one~).
Thanks.

I 2nd (or 3rd..or 10th) the remote! WTF is the deal with the new remote? Slow to respond…sometimes non-responsive until it reconnects. Completely unacceptable that people (and maybe myself) are dealing with this by paring their OLD BT remote, rather than use the “new and improved” Wifi remote.

I’m trying to have an open mind here, but this is BASE functionality that is lacking!

I hope you are doing fine. Should be present tonight. It’s the perfect Friday night Leisure after a week of hard work.

1. Have you ever tried these airplay apps for fire TV to airplay with your Iphone? Are they any good? Kodi is suppose to do it as well but that doesn’t work in my case? I think nobody still can beat apple’s airplay on apple TV (unfortunately).

2. I assume you are a cord cutter like most of us. Is that right? When did you cut the cord? What is your setup? Cord cutting is soooo much better than old fashion cable/linear TV.
Any idea how TV will look on the long term?

Hi!. I have a Fire TV 2nd Gen imported from Germany (I´m from Spain) and I tested it yesterday.

I have noticed that the USB port don´t work with any pendrive or HDD, formatted in FAT32. Even a USB Wireless Keybord don´t work. Is my unit defective?.

Also very dissapointed with the lack of 24P. Seeing this material over 60Hz is not good. I´m switching over the same material using the Smart Share of my OLED TV and it play smooth and perfect, and in the FireTV there is a microjumps caused by the pulldown 3:2 that do the thing…

I hope a near future update will fix this, because the Fire TV works very fast, playing 4K, H264, HEVC…using 5Ghz Wifi at a lighting speed. Very happy in this side, really.

I am new to the Fire TV and have heard about “free” coins. I did some searching and saw that there are sometimes promotions for free app that then offer coins. My question: is there a current list of these apps? Also, when on the Amazon App store, is there an area on the page noting any coin rewards for a particular app? I can’t seem to find any “apps with coins” so I don’t exactly know how to check.

HI. Look to the right of the page under “Latest App Deals” and you’ll find what you seek. I haven’t seen a FREE with coins app for quite a while, but I imagine if there was one, that’s where it would live.

Also at the top of the page under “Deals”, you can look at app deals, as well as deals with free coins and credits.

Im still having problems with the Plex app on the new Fire TV (newest update downloaded) with MP4 container and H.264 and AC3.

Video sometimes stutters w/pixelation and the App dies and goes back to Fire home screen. I’m connected through ethernet w/ a dedicated 2014 mac mini, 2.6 Ghz dual core I5, 8 GB Ram running latest version of the Plex Server. I believe I have the latest version of the Plex App

Don’t think this is a transcode problem. Roku3 works fine. Any suggestions?

tried to use sd card and usb storage on kodi for downloading movies etc as you can do in certain addons which worked in os3 but doesnt work on os5 , goes through the motions but when looking at external storage no files are there? any ideas. ps i have also tried kodi 16 beta 3 and this is the same as kodi 15 , not working

I have the FireTV2. I also have an Apple TV. I am kinda new to the Android ecosystem. Coming from the Apple ecosystem where security tends to be a little more tighter, I have been reluctant to install Kodi and download apps from sources that I cannot validate. Instead, I pulled out a Nook HD+ tablet which I have never used and installed Google Play and Apps2Fire – with this setup I am able to download a ton of apps from the Google Play store. Amazon App Store has an app call App Organizer that allows very easy access to all the downloaded and native apps. Very happy with this. I even download have apps that allow me to play all my local videos that I have stored on a DLNA server.

So the question is – what am I missing with not having Kodi? Also, am I being overly paranoid about apps from unknown sources?

More of a Kodi-oriented question: Is it possible to control the volume of video and audio playback on Kodi running on the Fire TV? Changing the volume through Kodi has no effect and it can get quite annoying. Would appreciate a reply.

I’ve been very happy with the firetv 1st gen. But I’m looking for a 2nd machine. Have you had a chance play with the nvidia shield tv in real life? how would you compare that experience with the 1st gen fire tv.

I’ve tried shield. I think it’s superior for gaming. Otherwise, I didnt see better performance (I don’t have a 4kTV) and the androidTV OS still needs some work.

Shield also only comes with a gaming remote. The standard remote is another $50. It’s a really nice remote which is rechargeable. The frustrating thing is it dies not have a menu button ( game controller does).

Is there an update coming to fix the remote issues and the volume issue we are seeing on AFTV2. I have to double the volume to get the same o/p as in my first gen AFTV which i find very odd. And not to mention the host of othr probs that others are facing with 4K video etc. I have reached out to Digital Services but all they say is they will pass on to higher up’s.